


Leave Me Stranded

by aethris



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Broken Bones, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forgive Me, Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, fam feels, feelings are hurt, i'm in klance hell right now, klance, mild angst?, pretty angsty, space dad shows up, squad feels, uggghhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 01:12:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7597594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aethris/pseuds/aethris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith opened his mouth and closed it. His eyes seemed pained. "Lance," he began, "I understand-"</p><p>"You don't know anything about how I feel because you don't care about ANYONE!" He let go of the other boy's shirt and pushed him away. Keith's back banged against the other treadmill. </p><p>The silence was heavy. Lance glared at Keith, fists raised, prepared for a fight.</p><p>But for once, Keith didn't glare back at him. "So." Keith's voice was almost too strained and quiet to hear. "That's how you feel."</p><p>Then he turned around and left the room without another word. </p><p>***<br/>I SWEAR it isn't as angsty as it sounds. There will be a happy ending. Basically Keith and Lance get in a fight and Lance says some shitty stuff. Keith goes on a stealth mission, fucks up and gets stranded in a space desert. Feelings happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was only 8:00 AM in space time and Lance had already filled his daily quota of mistakes.

After his alarm clock blared (it was a "gift" from Pidge) he'd tumbled out of bed. The wrong way. That left him with bruised knees and a bruised ego.

In the mess hall he'd stupidly been pulled into a speed eating contest with Keith. By the time he'd noticed Allura staring at him with a mixture of disgust and pity, food goo was hanging out of his mouth like a noodle.

Then he'd lost the fifteenth game of space Uno in a row. It wasn't different from normal Uno. It was just Uno in space, but that was besides the point. The point was that he'd lost. To Pidge. Pidge, who always smirked lightly and adjusted their glasses like some over-confident 80's anime villain. Lance's competitive spirit had fizzled out into being plain pissed-off.

"Time for training!" Shiro popped into the common room. He was answered by the replying grunts of the paladins, who were splayed throughout the room, in various conditions of wakefulness.

Shiro sighed, holding a hand to his forehead. "Alright guys, let's wake up. We're going to be on Jionope in-" he turned and checked the clock above him, "about four hours. We can fit in a little training before we get there, and we all need to work on our hand to hand combat."

"Jionope. What kinda name is that?" Hunk grumbled while peeling himself out of a recliner.

"I believe it's pronounced Jee-oh-no-pay." Pidge said, immediately slipping into their professional, science-y voice. Hunk snorted at that. "You know, like how you pronounce Calliope."

"It's pronounced Cal-eye-oh-pee, not Cally-oh-pay." Keith's voice sounded from the other side of the room, where he had been reading a book on Altean script.

"Maybe it's Cally-ope." Hunk mused. Pidge scoffed and stuffed the space Uno cards back in their box. Keith closed his book and said, "I don't think you're supposed to read it phonetically."

Pidge smiled tightly. "You're using phonetically wrong."

And with that, the battle of words had begun.

Shiro groaned and massaged his forehead with his thumbs as the paladins argued over the correct pronunciation of a planet they hadn't even arrived at yet, to take down a Galra outpost they weren't even sure existed, in order to maybe get closer to defeating an entire empire, in order to maybe someday go back home, if they even survived.

"Quit wasting time."

Everyone's heads turned toward Lance, who stood and walked out of the room. He avoided their shocked stares as he stepped past Shiro. Shiro put a hand on his shoulder  before he could leave. "Lance-" Shiro began.

Lance shrugged him off. "I'm fine." he mumbled.

 

* * *

 

"Shit." Lance hissed. Sweat was running down the bridge of his nose. His skin felt too tight for his body, and his legs were turning to jelly, but he had to beat his personal record. If he just kept going, if his concentration didn't break, then he could-

"W'sup Lance!" Hunk's voice came from his right. "You alright? You've been running for a long time. Need a water break?"

"I'm fine." He said through gritted teeth.

Shiro called from the pull up bar, "The most important part of working out is-"

"Hydration and recovery," Lance finished. He reached across the treadmill's dashboard and grabbed his bottle. He shook it, swishing around the remaining water. "I'm good on water, but thanks."

Lance kept his eyes fixed forward, but that didn't stop him from hearing the concern in Hunk's voice. "Can I get you a refill?" he asked.

He flicked a bead of sweat off his nose and grumbled, "Sure."

After the sound of Hunk's footsteps disappeared, his vision began to blur. The wall he had been staring at began to melt into a single color. Only the rhythm of his feet striking the surface of the treadmill kept him going. The steady beat matched his ragged breathing, and almost made him forget his burning lungs and stomach cramps.

 

* * *

 

 

How many miles was he at now? He wondered if runners often lost track. Maybe it was a good sign. Hopefully it was more than two, which was when he normally called it quits.

Maybe running could be his thing. He knew he was the best swimmer out of the paladins, but they didn't have a swimming pool in the castle. Hunk and Shiro were the best with weights. Pidge could be a yoga instructor with their level of flexibility. Lance had never seen Keith do anything besides push-ups, lunges, planks etc. So this could be the one thing Lance was useful for-

"Hey, cargo pilot." A hand crossed in front of his face and he blinked out of his stupor. Keith leaned on the arms of the treadmill and scowled at him. "Everyone's eating lunch without you." Lance noticed that his bottle had been replaced with water long ago. It was coated in droplets of condensation.

"You've been running so long that we're already on Jionope.” Lance just answered with a grunt of acknowledgement.

“I'm actually impressed." Lance did a double-take and looked at Keith in shock. "Kidding," added Keith. "I've got a reconnaissance mission, and I know Shiro's got a job for you. You should probably eat first."

Lance waved them aside. "I'll eat later. Hunk'll leave me something in the kitchen." "You should go. Shiro's worried." Keith said, raising an eyebrow.

"Shiro's always worried," Lance puffed. The effort of talking while running was becoming painful, so he poked at the fingers that were clutching onto the treadmill. The other pilot growled in annoyance.

"What is your problem today, Lance? You're weirding everyone out!" Keith snapped, "You’re gonna eat with us or else!"

Lance scoffed, “Or else what? You’ll fight me, shrimpboy-”

His hand slammed down on the emergency stop button.

Lance couldn't stop the momentum of his running, and the sudden halting of the machine sent him careening forward into the dashboard. His face slammed against the center and his knees crumpled. A loud snort sounded from Keith.

"Oh shit!" gasped Keith, obviously struggling to conceal his laughter, "Sorry, I swear I didn’t mean to," Lance peeled his face off the dashboard and whipped around to face the paladin.

"Do you enjoy seeing me fail?" The bitterness wouldn't stay out of his voice, and Keith quickly stopped laughing. "Are you a sadist or something? Both of us know you're way better at everything. Can't you let me have one thing I can be good at?"

"Why are you acting like this," Keith said uncertainly. "Are you okay?" The shorter boy had backed away from the treadmill. Lance wouldn't let him go so easily and pursued him. His built-up anger felt like it was fizzing around in his head, like a soda bottle on the verge of exploding everywhere. 

"I don't know, Keith." He grabbed the front of Keith's black t-shirt and pulled him closer. "Am I okay?" Keith stared at him with wide eyes. The confusion from the paladin only fueled his anger. He could practically feel the other boy trembling. 

"Maybe I'm just tired of pretending to be happy to stand in your shadow and fail at everything!"

"Y-you're not acting normal, Lance," he stammered. Keith's hands searched behind himself and clutched onto the adjacent treadmill for balance. 

"Normal! The Galra are destroying the universe! Any day now they could decide Earth is the next place they want to suck the life out of! How am I supposed to act normal like this?!" 

Lance felt a fuzzy ringing in his ears. He gripped Keith's shirt tighter.

 "I don't know when I'm going to see my mom and my sister again. My little sister is growing up without a big brother while I'm stranded in the middle of fuckin' space! They don't know that they could be invaded by an alien army! Hell, my family could be enslaved by tomorrow, and I can't even do anything right, much less fight a fucking empire! I mess up over and over again! How am I supposed to protect them when I'm this useless! Do you know what that feels like?!" he spat. 

Keith opened his mouth and closed it. His eyes seemed pained. "Lance," he began, "I understand-"

"You don't know anything about how I feel because you don't care about ANYONE!" He let go of the other boy's shirt and pushed him away. Keith's back banged against the other treadmill. 

The silence was heavy. Lance glared at Keith, fists raised, prepared for a fight.

But for once, Keith didn't glare back at him. "So." Keith's voice was almost too strained and quiet to hear. "That's how you feel."

Then he turned around and left the room without another word.

 

* * *

 

Lance felt rather like a deflated balloon. A really shitty deflated balloon in a Walmart parking lot that had been run over by shopping carts and cars so many times it had been reduced to a patch of colorful latex imprinted into the asphalt.

After kicking his water bottle halfway across the gym, he calmed down considerably. That didn't stop him from feeling like an asshole. Why in seven hells had he said all that to Keith? Sure, they were rivals. But they had a friendly rivalry, its not like they were arch nemeses! There was no excuse for being such a little shit. 

 

Lance took a long gulp of lukewarm water as he stood on the gym door's threshold. He looked down the hallway and flinched.

Shiro strode down the hallway. His usual calm expression had changed to a pissed expression.

Figuring it was too late to duck back into the gym room, he leaned out and waved casually at the paladin with a innocent smile.

"Looks like you're feeling better." Shiro said, coming to a halt in front of Lance.

Lance scratched the back of his short brown hair and grinned. "Uhh, yeah. I just kicked a bottle, yelled a bit, y'know. It was pretty therapeutic.”

Shiro sighed, “Is yelling at your teammates therapeutic, Lance?”

Lance shifted uncomfortably. “How did you find out about that . . .”

Shiro’s shoulders dropped and his annoyance seemed to drain out of him. “I ran into Keith before he left for his scouting mission. Lance,” Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “I understand if you’re stressed. We all are. This is a stressful situation we’re in. Suddenly the responsibility of the universe’s safety has been placed on us.” Shiro chuckled and shook his head, as if he could hardly believe how they’d got to this point either.

“That’s why we need each other. You, no, all of us need to learn how to lean on each other when the stress becomes too much.” His expression became serious again. “If we all lashed out when we feel down, this team would fall apart. Do you understand, Lance?”

Lance forced himself to meet Shiro’s eyes and nod. The heavy guilt in the pit of his stomach ached. “Uh,” he began, trying way too hard to sound casual, “So, when is everyone going to be back from the mission anyway?”

Shiro patted his shoulder and released him. “Hunk took the southern perimeter while Keith took the north. They should be back around dinner tonight, if all goes well.” Shiro eyed him questioningly. “Why? Are you eager to get assigned to a job?”

Lance forced a grin and mumbled, “Uh, sure …”

Without warning, Shiro broke into a proud smile. “Great! Allura needs you to clean the castle’s bathrooms. She’ll be so happy that you agreed to it. I’m glad your work ethic is improving.”

 

* * *

  


Pidge stared at Lance when he staggered into the kitchen. Pidge had Rover in their lap, no doubt adding some sort of crazy gadget to the poor drone. Now they switched their attention to Lance. Pidge struggled to keep a straight face while taking in his soaked shirt and cleaning bandanna. “There was a plumbing, uh, incident.” said Lance to explain the shirt. The bandanna was worn more out of habit than necessity, but Pidge didn’t need to know that.

Pidge grinned. “Did’ya have fun?”

Lance stretched his cramped arms. Cleaning space toilets was not much different than cleaning toilets back at his house on Earth. Shouldn’t there be like, a robot or something that did the job for them, or a sophisticated toilet cleaning tool? Seemed like Alteans had also invented the toilet brush. It looked just like the one from home (albeit more science-y and geometric) which gave him a heart-wrenching rush of nostalgia. What he’d give to have his mama yelling at him to clean his disgusting bathroom or she’d smack his ass with a spoon. She never actually went through with her threats.   Yeah, good times.

“Yes,” he answered honestly. “Made me remember cleaning days with my mom.”

Pidge’s smile softened.

 

* * *

 

Hunk arrived late for dinner, which he apologized over and over for.

“It’s quite alright, my friends!” said Coran confidently, “I prepared a fine dinner in our chef’s absence! I hope it will satisfy your voracious appetites, hahaha!”

Everyone exchanged dubious glances over the generous spread of “fine” green food goo.

Shiro served himself a large glop of the stuff and sent Coran a warm smile. “Thank you for the food, Coran.” he said. And when Shiro smiled and acted polite like that, everyone knew they had to follow suit.

“Is anyone else wondering where Keith is?” Lance said. He tried to keep the edge of anxiety out of his voice, but it still trembled slightly.

Hunk blinked. “You mean, has he not come back yet? I thought he was back.” The paladin sounded uncertain.

“What? Did you leave him out there alone-” Lance fell silent as he felt Allura’s hand on his arm.

“Do not fear for his safety, Lance. We have been in contact, and Keith has told me he has found a lead on the location of the Galra outpost.” she assured him. Before Lance could speak again she added, “And, he has promised me he will not take any action if he encounters soldiers. In the event that happens, we will be alerted immediately through his lion.” She smiled gently at him. “We’ll make sure to send you as back up.”

Against his will, Lance felt his face grow hot, and he muttered, “That jerk can handle himself, I’m not worried.”

“Make sure to apologize to him tomorrow, Lance,” called Shiro from across the table.

“Okay Dad,” he grumbled. He took another bite of food goo and tried to ignore Pidge’s and Hunk’s matching grins.

 

* * *

  


Lance actually had the best sleep he’d had since being on Earth.

Despite the uncomfortable sensation of food goo sloshing around in his stomach, he’d passed out right after throwing himself in bed.

Then he rolled out of bed, in the right direction this time, only to see that it was 5:00 in the morning.

“Might as well get up.” he said to himself. Shiro would be proud of him for abandoning his slothlike, bed hogging ways to wake up early and exercise.

The white halls sent his footsteps echoing, but the silence ate the sound right up. The castle was eerily quiet in the morning. If you could even consider it morning in space. Space traveling really did mess up his circadian rhythm.

He’d jogged more than halfway to the gym before remembering Keith.

He was more than aware Keith often spent his mornings in the gym. He often came to breakfast in gym shorts and a sweaty tank top, which was gross, but also did weird things to Lance’s stomach. Giving a heartfelt apology for being an ass while seeing Keith clad in that outfit would make things awkward. But it had to be done.

He kept replaying his conversation/rant/one-sided argument/bitchfest with Keith and inwardly punching himself. He knew he was a little shit normally, but that was reaching new levels of stupidness, even for him. He would just have to make this apology extra sincere. He wondered if he'd have to throw in an apology gift in as well. What if Hunk had a box of chocolates lying around? There could be roses on Jionope. No, that might look kinda weird as an apology gift. 

Lance steeled himself.

He walked in with a hopefully natural-looking smile and said,

“What’s up Keeeeeeeeeee . . .” Lance’s voice trailed off.

Shiro looked up from the bench press and pulled out his earbuds. “Lance?” he said, with a surprised smile. “What are you doing up?”

Lance dropped his hand, which had been in mid-wave. “Uhhh.” he mumbled.

“Who's Keee-”

He walked out quickly.

 

* * *

 

Lance burst into the control room, surprising Allura. The princess fanned herself with a hand and laughed, “Oh my, you startled me Lance! Do you need something?”

It looked like the princess had been tending to her weird psychic mice, which could definitely wait.

“When did you last talk to Keith?” he burst out. He realized his fists were balled up again. Lance quickly tried to pull himself together and relax. Allura wouldn’t talk if he looked like he wanted to fight something.

“Keith sent me a message informing me he’d be staying overnight to monitor the north for activity. He assured me he had brought a sleeping bag.” she told him. “I'm sure he stayed up late and overslept.”

Lance’s brows knotted up and he turned away from the princess. “No, no. He wakes up early,” he muttered. Something must have happened. Keith may have acted like an impulsive idiot in the past (and the present), but he stuck to a routine.

Lance could hear the concern in Allura’s voice. “I’m positive he’s safe. If we sent our lions after him we would blow our cover unnecessarily. Do you understand, Lance?”

He turned back to Allura. “Of course. I understand. I’ll just, uh, go and meditate in my room.”

Allura blinked. She repeated, “Meditate.”

He nodded. “Yep. Don’t interrupt me.”

Lance left the control room at a speedwalk and then ran directly to the blue lion’s hangar.

Allura told him not to take the lion. She didn’t say anything about the speeder.


	2. Chapter 2

The surface of Jionope was very familiar to Lance. The desert reminded him of his grandma's house in the middle of Nowhere, Arizona. Well, the sand was apple-green, the color of a convenience store slushie. That was different. But the distant, steep plateaus and scattered brush looked exactly like her backyard. Allura had taken advantage of the plateaus for stealth. The castle was parked in the shadow of a towering mountain. With the eternally overcast sky, the castle's turrets blended in with the points of the mountain.

The castle grew smaller on the horizon as Lance headed northward. The speeder seemed to soar across the ground, leaving swells of flying sand in its wake. He gripped the handles and focused on breathing in rhythm with the hum of the machine. But his rib cage ached as if it grew tighter with every breath. Despite the cool morning air, sweat prickled Lance's arms.

It wouldn't do Keith any good if he panicked now. All he had to do was keep his eyes peeled for a flash of red and silver metal. But if he couldn't find the red lion, or it's pilot . . . His mind jumped to the worst situation possible.

What if Keith had tried to take on a Galra outpost on his own and been overrun? What if they had already been transported off the planet? For all he knew, Keith could be in front of Zarkon himself, or in a stark Galran prison cell.

Pidge would tell him not to jump to conclusions without evidence. Shiro would advise him to calm down and control his fear. Hunk would confidently say not to worry. Keith would laugh and let him know he could handle himself. Yet . . .The sharp, rocky feeling in the pit of his stomach told him something was wrong.

Lance focused so intensely on worrying he almost ran over the alien turtle guy's house.

"Oi! Human, y'betta watch wher'ye goin' now." The speeder screeched to a stop as Lance slammed the brakes. He spun around wildly in search of the voice. "'m down 'ere, tarkbait." snapped the voice. Lance stared, all manners forgotten, at the native Jionopean.

The little guy was the size of a toddler. He looked like a scaly, tortoise thing, minus the shell and plus short horns. His belly was coated in thick white fur. His eyes were small, goat-pupiled, and very, very angry. Despite the guy's obvious annoyance, Lance really wanted to hug him. He just looked so ugly and cute at the same time. "Watch yer speeda," Turtle Dude said gruffly. He hobbled back into his house.

His house was equally ugly-cute, with green sandstone bricks and a patch of scrubby wildflowers growing from the roof. It was half-sunken into the sand, as if the owner had given up on sweeping the sand off long ago. Before the native could close the door, Lance scrambled off his speeder and yelled, "Wait! I need, uh, directions!"

Turtle Dude's scaly eyebrow furrowed even further. "Yeh dunna 'ave a map?" he grunted. Lance approached the front door and knelt at eye-level with the alien. "Sir Turtle, I need to know if you've seen my friend," he begged,"He came this direction last night." The turtle was silent, and he looked Lance up and down. Lance kept still. He got the feeling that Turtle Dude was deciding whether to trust him.

"Yeh. Yer kind came 'round 'ere while I been gardnin',"  he said finally. "Caused a mighty fright as 'ee scared me flowas, but 'ee 'pologized." Lance decided not to question how flowers could be scared. Exploring space tended to mess up your sense of logic.

"Just checking, was he a skinny boy with a mullet?" he asked. The alien scratched his chin with a single claw. "Dunno whatta moollut is bein', but 'ee werse a boy." The turtle guy's beak stretched into a smile. "Aye, 'ee even 'adda big metal loin!"

"A lion." Turtle Dude regained his scowl and croaked, "Lion, a lion it werse."Lance couldn't stop a smile from bursting onto his face. "Yes, a lion. That's him alright. Thank God. Which direction did he go?"

The Turtle Dude shook his head slightly and sighed, "Dunno why, but 'ee asks me fur d'rections ta tha Galra outpost. Ain't none gone there for years, not'even Galras." 

Lance felt his mouth go dry as a desert. Ha. The Jionopean headed towards the door and grumbled, "S'about a jok from here, jus' go northeast."

"Thanks, Turtle Dude, sir." he stammered. Turtle Dude shut the door in his face. "Pargo's m'name," came his voice, muffled from behind the door. 

Lance ran back to his speeder, but not before yelling, "Thanks Pargos!"

 

* * *

 

Lance didn't know how long a jok was, but it was definitely more than a mile. He silently wished he had Blue with him so the lions could do their psychic roaring thing.  

The wide open swathes of emerald desert with a background of plateaus had given way to sand peppered with huge jagged rocks. In between the rocks and the sand he spotted the same scrubby flowers that had grown from Pargos' roof. A couple slender lizards scattered from their resting spots on the rocks whenever he sped by. 

Lance wondered if the Galra had an underground base and he'd already flown over it. Wouldn't that just be perfect. 

Then in the distance he spotted a dark shape against the horizon. As he proceeded cautiously, a glint of light fell onto the object and sparkled off its metallic surface. "Red." he breathed out in relief. He cranked up the speed and rushed towards the lion. 

The lion was crouched on the ground, almost like a sleeping cat. Its eyes were dark. Lance powered down the speeder and approached slowly. Maybe Keith was asleep in there after all? He swung a leg over the edge and dismounted, pulling his bayard from a compartment. He squinted, and glanced around. This felt almost like a prank or something. 

"Keith?" Lance called out, knocking on Red's body, "Buddy? You in there?" All that answered him was the hollow thud of metal. "I swear to God, Keith if you're in there and you're just messing with me I'll . . . I'll do something!" Lance winced at how terrible that threat was, but he never did work well under pressure. 

"C'mon man," Lance let his head drop forward and clunk against the lion. "You're killing me here," he grumbled. He fell silent. Looked like Keith had gone off and tried to capture the outpost on his own. The fact that Red was still here was good, it meant he probably hadn't been captured yet-

If Lance hadn't gone quiet, he could've missed the quiet noise in the distance. Since he'd momentarily shut up, he did catch the sound. He stilled his breathing and listened closely.

It was a rasping sound, as quiet as a heartbeat. As soon as he'd heard the second time, he leapt away from the red lion and scanned his surroundings. All around him was only the same empty desert that covered most of Jionope. But only a short distance away from him was a cliff. It blended in with the sand so well he wouldn't have spotted it otherwise. Lance heard the shuddering sound again. He approached the edge haltingly and looked over.

"Holy shit." he whispered, clutching the bayard to his chest. 

Around 3 stories below him, the curled form of the red paladin lay on his stomach in the shadow of the cliff. Lance couldn't see his face, as it was pressed into the sand. He seemed to be half-covered in sand as if he'd been there forever. He realized the sound he'd heard had been the paladin's labored breathing. As Lance watched in horror, Keith began to stir. 

"Keith! Stay there, I'll be down in a second." he shouted, ignoring the wavering in his voice. He ran back to the speeder. He pulled out the first aid kit from the compartment behind the seat. For the first time Lance mentally thanked Shiro for his overprotective ways. Then he kicked Red in her big metal nose (which hurt more than he'd like to admit). "WAKE UP!" he screeched at the robot. No reaction. 

"There is no way I am climbing down the goddamn cliff," he spat, trudging back to the speeder. He suddenly remembered the trick Keith had pulled off the first time the Voltron team had broken the law together. Maybe he could pull off the same trick?

Lance jumped back on the speeder and revved it before he could regret his life choices. He screamed some rather embarrassing things as the speeder shot forward over the edge. He pulled back on the controls seconds before crashing into the ground, but he'd overshot it. Instead Lance skidded across the surface and spun before coming to a stop on top of a nearby sand dune. Breathing wildly, Lance spat out a mouthful of sand before hopping off and running to Keith with the first aid kit in tow.

"Keith!" he shouted, "Keith! Are you okay! Keith!" Keith turned his head with difficulty just as Lance fell to the ground next to him. He smiled weakly and said, "I knew it was you from the girly screams."

Lance's heart broke at the pathetic sound of Keith's voice. He talked in a hoarse whisper that hurt to hear. "What happened?" Lance asked. Unconsciously, his hand reached forward and brushed the sand out of Keith's bangs. Keith seemed surprised but grateful. "I messed up," he said simply. 

Lance popped open the first aid kit and shot Keith a disbelieving glare. In response, Keith laughed shakily, "Alright, more details then." He closed his eyes, and he looked like a corpse in the sand. "Don't do that," Lance hissed, pushing his shoulder lightly. Keith winced at the touch, but ignored him.

"Last night, I finished scouting and figured I'd go to bed," he murmured,"So I put Red into sleep mode. But afterwards I thought I spotted the outpost through the cockpit. And it was in walking distance."

"Keith don't tell me you tried to go there." Lance groaned. Keith's mouth twisted into a regretful smirk. "How else did I get here?" he pointed out. "Turns out deserts are dark in the middle of the night. Stepped over the cliff, here we are." 

Lance was too worried to reprimand him for being an impulsive idiot. He closed his eyes and practiced deep breathing. "Okay, what's broken?" 

"Couple ribs, left ankle, left tibia," he said in one unsteady breath. 

"Oh God." Keith blinked at him quizzically. "And you've been here  _all night_?!" Lance cried. He couldn't even imagine dealing with that pain alone, not to mention at the middle of night in a  _fucking_   _desert._

"Well, this sand is pretty soft," Keith admitted, "And I've passed out a few times too." Lance dropped his first aid kit and brought his hands to his face. "Keith," he mumbled, "you enormous idiot." Keith grinned. "Did I make you cry?" he said in amazement.

Lance ignored that comment and dug through the contents. Below the bandaids, gauze, thermometer and baby wipes, he found the packet. "Look, I have no idea how to treat broken bones or anything like this," Lance said, "So take these painkillers and I'll get you back to the castle as quickly as possible." 

Keith's head moved an inch in acknowledgement. His mouth opened. Lance scowled and dropped a couple bright pink pills in Keith's mouth. "Uh," he glanced at the directions, written in Shiro's clean handwriting,"It says to chew them." 

"Already have. Mmm. Tastes squishy," Keith coughed. Lance decided not to question how something could taste squishy. "They're kicking in already," Keith said in surprise,"That's pretty good space aspirin. Doesn't even hurt anymore."

Lance steeled himself and slipped his hands under Keith's armpits. He stood up, pulling Keith with him. Lance was surprised how heavy the paladin was compared to how skinny he normally seemed. 

"Okay, now that hurts a little," growled Keith through gritted teeth. Lance adjusted his arms and said, "Here, lean on me and I'll help you to the speeder."

"I don't know if you noticed," choked Keith in between little gasps of pain, "But I can't walk." Lance slipped his arm around Keith and gripped his waist. "Use your right leg and hop." Lance hissed. 

They proceeded at an agonizingly slow pace, taking breaks to let Keith catch his breath. Lance was starting to regret leaving his speeder at the top of a sand dune. As they took a break to let Keith breathe, the other paladin let his head fall against Lance's shoulder. Lance felt Keith's body grow limp as he leaned into him. "You know," Keith said, "I always thought it'd be kinda cool to break a bone. You'd get a cast, get people to sign it, have everyone pity you and pay attention to you." Lance felt the warmth of Keith's unsteady breaths against his shoulder. "But this just sucks." 

Lance made to move again, but Keith's right leg had become entangled with his left. Keith toppled instantly, but his hand still clutched Lance's shirt. They both fell onto the emerald sand. Lance let out a long breath and closed his eyes. He forced himself to get up. "Alright, we gotta keep going." he ordered, brushing sand off his sleeves. 

Keith didn't answer. With a pained hiss, he turned and rolled over until he was on his back. His chest heaved with the effort of breathing. He stared at Lance with his dark eyes. He raised his arms. 

"Uh." said Lance awkwardly. "Do you need something?"

"Just do it." replied Keith with the finality of someone done with their current situation. "Carry me princess-style."

Lance froze. "Excuse me?"

"Carry me like a princess, Laaance."

The painkillers must have been stronger than Lance thought. He didn't argue, but slipped an arm under Keith's knees and another behind his shoulders. "Like this?" he grunted as he heaved Keith up. Keith only answered by smiling agreeably. 

Numerous rude insults ran through Lance's head as he hiked up the steep dune. His feet sunk into the sand, every slip making his stomach drop. He muttered a few words that would've got his ass beat if his mom were there. Lance immediately shut up when he felt Keith nuzzle him.

Nuzzle him. Well, that was new. 

Keith's head had been resting on his shoulder, but now his nose pressed against Lance's jaw. Keith rubbed his cheek against Lance's neck. The feverishly warm skin of Keith's face felt soft as a petal. "Lance." Keith sang quietly. "Lance, Lance, Lance, Lance Mclance." Lance gulped. Painkillers, that was it. 

"Lance, why are you so mean?" Keith wondered, "You're so mean to me. It's not fair. I'm cool, but you're cooler. Don't be mean," Lance fixed his eyes forward as Keith stared at him. Lance flinched when he felt the soft fingertips of Keith's left hand touching him. He seemed mesmerized by Lance's skin.

Keith ran his fingers down Lance's neck and traced a circle around his throat. "Your skin looks tasty," he said quietly, "Like caramel."

"Ooookay," Lance coughed, hyperaware of the heat flooding his cheeks. "Don't fall in love with me 'cause space drugs are messing up your head." Keith scowled and head-butted him weakly. "I had a crush on you since I met you!" 

"Nice, how about we save the confessions for when you're out of the healing pod okay-"

"I looove you Lance, you're so pretty. You should marry me. I'll be your princess," Keith whispered.

Lance couldn't think of an answer to that. He normally would've laughed but the moment felt too surreal. 

"You don't believe me?" Keith gasped in indignation. "Uhh, I believe that you don't know what you're saying and you're gonna regret this later," Lance replied honestly. 

"Lanceee. Believe me. Look at me." Lance stepped over a sharp rock embedded in the dunes. Thank God it was always overcast on Jionope or he'd be sweating buckets. "Lance, looook."

Lance could see the gleam of his speeder just a few feet away. "Laaaaaance," Keith whined.

"What?!" He hissed, whipping his head to glare at Keith. 

And then Keith kissed him. 

It was awkward. It was painful. Keith's lips were chapped from spending hours outside. The angle forced Keith's elbow into his stomach, which was probably why the kiss left him breathless. The paladin's teeth cut into Lance's lips. Immediately afterwards, Keith passed out and went limp and heavy in his arms, leaving Lance with a bloody lip and a flushed face. 

In a state of shock, Lance sat on the speeder with Keith in front of him, his head flopped and his mouth open. Keith made a gargling noise in his sleep. 

"What the actual fuck." Lance mumbled, bringing a hand to his lips.

 

* * *

 

When Keith fell out of the healing pod, his knees collapsed and he felt hands wrap around him, propping him upright. 

He looked up, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. His face went pink when he realized who was holding him.

Lance was looking down at him with the largest, most overconfident grin he'd ever seen.  "Looks like Sleeping Beauty just woke up!" Keith's vocal chords felt like they were paralyzed. He made a undignified choking noise. 

"Before I forget, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was a huge douchebag and you didn't deserve that. I can give you a better apology later but what I really wanna know is: is it true you have a huge gay crush on me?" Lance talked like a machine gun firing and Keith's brain struggled to keep up. Then his mind locked on the word "crush". 

"Who told you?" he whispered. Denying it would be hopeless now. "You told me," said Lance, still grinning like a dumbass. 

"I did? I did. Thought that was a dream."

"You also kissed me." Lance added.

"Shit. I did."

Lance's grin softened into a warm smile. Keith couldn't even look him in the eye. 

"For the record," Lance informed him, "It was pretty hot."

Keith stuttered, and if he was pink before, he was flushed red now. "Uh, s-so do you want to d-do it again?"

Lance doesn't stop to say yes. Keith could only vaguely recall the last kiss, but this one was definitely better. This time he could stand on his own, and he could wrap his arms around Lance's neck. He wasn't loopy from painkillers and missing 24 hours of sleep this time.

Well, Pidge and Hunk walked in the room and started making exaggerated gagging noises. 

But yeah.

It was definitely better. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this stupid little thing I did! I hope you enjoyed it. :)  
> Tell me if you have any suggestions for future fics. -Aethris


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